| Negative | imwinniesdad
(2 reviews) | On Aug 25, 2018, imwinniesdad Whitmore, CA wrote: Read the fine print. There is no "100% Our Unconditional, Money Back Guarantee" They are a CA company that shipped plants in the heat to CA, then when I requested replacements, replied "we specifically exclude extreme weather in our guarantee." Fortunately this was an initial small test order. Their compost will prevent further misfortune.
On Aug 25, 2018, Flowers by the Sea responded with: "On Aug 26, 2018 2:24 AM, Flowers by the Sea responded with: I am very sorry that record heat, some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in your area, caused the loss of your plants. It is never easy to see plants succumb to extreme weather.
There is no fine print in our guarantee, and one needs to explicitly agree to the Terms of sale at the time of purchase. We absolutely guarantee that one will receive top quality plants that under "normal" conditions will thrive. But extreme heat, flooding, hurricane winds - truly extreme weather - are not covered, nor is it reasonable that they should be.
Here is that text - highlighted at the top of the Terms:
Acts of Nature/Lack of Proper Care
We can't guarantee survival of our plants in the event of an act of nature, such as pest damage, a storm, extreme summer heat or unexpectedly severe drought. Outside of these conditions, our plants should perform well if they receive appropriate moisture, sunlight and soil.
On Aug 26, 2018 2:38 AM, Flowers by the Sea added:I am very sorry that record heat, some of the highest temperatures ever recorded in your area, caused the loss of your plants. It is never easy to see plants succumb to extreme weather.
There is no fine print in our guarantee, and one needs to explicitly agree to the Terms of sale at the time of purchase. We absolutely guarantee that one will receive top quality plants that under "normal" conditions will thrive. But extreme heat, flooding, hurricane winds - truly extreme weather - are not covered, nor is it reasonable that they should be.
We allow our customers to specify when their plants are shipped, so that they can avoid inappropriate times according to their judgement. And we gladly reschedule shipping when it is requested.
Here is the text that excludes extreme weather - highlighted at the top of the Terms:
Acts of Nature/Lack of Proper Care
We can't guarantee survival of our plants in the event of an act of nature, such as pest damage, a storm, extreme summer heat or unexpectedly severe drought. Outside of these conditions, our plants should perform well if they receive appropriate moisture, sunlight and soil."
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| Negative | Plantcrazylady
(5 reviews) | On Nov 15, 2015, Plantcrazylady Santa Cruz, CA wrote: Posted on October 26, 2015, updated November 15, 2015
After purchasing about 200 plants from this company, I am no longer a customer. With their poor shipping practices, questionable horticulture, and poor treatment of customers, I see no reason to continue ordering from FBTS. I advise gardeners to look elsewhere.
Shipping: Plants are wrapped in several layers of newsprint-type paper, then stacked in too-large shipping boxes filled with polystyrene peanuts. If you have a large order, plants will be stacked on top of each other in several layers. In all of my orders the bottom plants arrive squashed and bruised, with a lot of breakage. Some were completely broken off at the base. I even received a very heavy one-gallon plant in the same shipping carton as several tender, brittle plants in three-inch pots. The first plant I received that arrived with a main-stem split was replaced. After that, all problems with shipping were blamed on my local delivery person, or on me.
Ordering: They have started carrying many plants only as "special order" options, to be shipped in six weeks. If you want to include in-stock items with your order, you must place two separate orders (double shipping fees) or face a "split-order" charge (a surprise to me when I ordered, as this was not made clear at the time). Either way, your costs will double. Ridiculous, if you want to purchase more than a few plants at a time. And what do you get with six weeks of growth? A poorly rooted cutting. Don't bother.
Customer service: My last order was for 38 plants, five of which were special order. I requested that the bulk of the order be sent immediately (why wait six weeks for 33 in-stock plants?). They held back a normally in-stock plant for delivery with the SO plants, and then tried to claim it had been shipped already. Then when the SO plants where shipped, I was short two plants, with no credit issued and no explanation given. When I inquired, the owner would not credit me for the missing items (or for the ridiculously non-viable plant I had received in the previous order) claiming that those three credits ($30) would not even cover the shipping for the SO plants. So he decided to "call it a wash." I call that fraud. Civility toward the customer declined precipitously with each transaction I placed with this company. The first order or two came with bonus plants. The rest with hostility.
Horticulture: Yes, the plants tend to be big for their pots, but this is often not a good thing. Many, perhaps most, of the salvias I received from FBTS were horribly pot bound. One was so bad that even with soaking in a bucket I could not get moisture to the center of the root ball. The owner, when I contacted him, stated that "we don't worry too much about salvias being pot bound." Really? I assume that overgrown stock is why they have gone to the "special order" plan.
I made the mistake of placing a very large order when FBTS had a clearing-out sale. They sold all plants as-is. Several of the plants were so poor they should never have left the nursery, and some arrived badly broken (and that, too, was considered "as-is"). The non-viable plant I mentioned above arrived so flaccid and weak that it had been tied, in several places, to a stick. They actually shipped out an already dying plant. Enough said.
Do not recommend!!!
On November 15th, 2015, Plantcrazylady added the following:
Just read the response from FBTS. It's interesting how often the comeback from a company caught out for bad behavior is that any failure is the fault of the customer. As to the floated question about why I bought so many plants from FBTS, all those items where purchased over (I believe) three orders. The first order was small, to try the place out, and was initiated for one specific plant I could not find locally at the time. The next order was for their (supposedly once-in-lifetime) sale. The last was the order when I was treated with such disregard.
I just dug up, today, two more dead FBTS plants (origanum Kent Beauty) purchased in that FBTS sale. Both plants were shipped to me seriously pot bound. The dead root balls had not sent out any roots over the last few months, and the plants died from self strangulation.
On Nov 15, 2015, Flowers by the Sea responded with: "On Oct 27, 2015 12:29 PM, Flowers by the Sea responded with: While the staff of Flowers by the Sea regrets it when dissatisfaction arises, we need to stress that no matter how hard an online nursery works or how good its plants are, there will always be an occasional dissatisfied customer.
It is a rare customer who complains about our packaging, propagation, policies or shipping, especially all at once. In fact, during our huge summer sale, only one customer had a significant complaint and that is the customer commenting here.
Plantcrazylady, we are sorry for any stress it has caused you by doing business with our company. We are continuing to work with you via emails and phone calls to resolve your concerns. As you indicate, you have ordered from us a number of times and in quantity. We wonder why you shopped with us if you were so displeased with our service and plants.
Anyone who wants to understand our shipping policies regarding combined orders of in-stock and special order plants, can find the information here: http://www.fbts.com/special-orders.html. To read testimonials from customers, please visit http://www.fbts.com/testimonials.php. We also answer a thorough list of frequently asked questions at http://www.fbts.com/faq.html.
Gardeners who would like more information about FBTS, please email us at http://www.fbts.com/contact-us/. We're always glad to share information and be helpful.
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